Christmas is Better Spent with Someone You Love
by Dana Kathrine Scully
Summary: Christmastime! I posted this a bit early, but after people begged me to post more after the preview, I did. Chapter 3 & Chapter 4 are in the works. RODDYxRITA Rated for slight SLASH implications
1. Preview

**A pampered rat met a beautiful sewer rat one fateful day….**

"**I have got, to get home…."**

**She took him home. But fell in love with him on the way…**

"**Roddy!"**

**He fell in love with her on the way also…**

"**Rita!"**

**Their friendship turned into something platonic…**

"**You wouldn't happen to need a first mate, would you?"**

**But at the same time, their feelings brought them danger…**

"**Goodbye, rat!"**

**And to their horror, they had to overcome it themselves.**

"**We need to get downstairs and pull out that cable!"**

**That had happened years ago. Where are the young rats now?**

"**Christmastime, Is here…"**

**It's Christmas. **

"Happiness, and Cheer…"

**Are they still in love?**

"Fun for all, the children call,"

**Find out…**

"**Their favorite time, of the year."**

**At Christmas time. **

**Flushed Away: The sequel**

**The Christmas Season**

**Coming to the screen you are currently staring at soon.**


	2. Introduction

Ok, I'll give in. You've all been begging me to update, but the good part won't come until Christmas, ok? Do we have a deal? Here goes:

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Carols echoed through the streets of Piccadilly. Snow drifted in from up top through unused manholes. Human sized Christmas lights hung from the rooftops and shops. Branches from artificial Christmas trees were sold in little lots. Rats were scurrying about, buying gifts for their loved ones. Rats had little carts to put their bags in. A female rat walked these streets, bundled up in a Union Jack print coat and gloves, holding a male rat's hand, who was wearing a black coat.

Rita Malone and Roddy St. James walked the main branch of the Piccadilly Shopping Complex. Rita was smiling at all the adorable sights, like a young, four year old rat sitting on Father Christmas' lap. She imagined her future children sitting on his lap, quoting what he or she desired for the holiday. Rita looked inside another shop, a toy shop, and saw a few children with their mothers, showing them what was on their Christmas lists.

Roddy St. James watched Rita as she obseved these sights with a smile on her beautiful face. He was holding her hand, and put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She snuggled up to him and sighed in contentment. They had been together ever since the incident with the Toad, and the couple was always closest during Christmas. Rita stayed close to him all the way to the parking lot, where they fought to find their way to their boat, the Jammy Dodger Mark II. The docks were crowded with rats going to their boats or leaving to shop. Rita and Roddy finally made their way to the parking space and get on. The new Jammy Dodger had a decent and readable dashboard, a better joystick for the crane, and an actual steering wheel, not a faucet handle. This made steering a whole lot easier.

Rita started up the engine and carefully steered out of the space. Parking was tight, and the Dodger was a rather large boat, if someone compared it to other scavenging boats. Rita got the entire boat backed out and into the lane in about five minutes, and was now stuck in traffic to get out. She sighed in contempt. She despised traffic jams. She wasn't good at patience, so this was gonna be a problem if they were stuck for more than twenty minutes. By then Rita would be fed up enough to try and weave through the the boats.

They managed to get out of the traffic and took a back route. It wasn't near as quick, but there were only a few boats on this stretch. Rita sped along the waterway until the Little Soho drive came into view. Her family had bought a new house, and it was on ground, not a houseboat. Rita was grateful it was attached to something solid. No more restless nights from being seasick, the family could all have seperate dishes, and Fergus could skate around as much as he wanted without effecting the house. He broke a board every now and again, but that was fixable. There were plenty of boards in Piccadilly.

Rita sided up to a dock close to the Malone house and tied the Dodger to a post. She double knotted the knot and walked across the plasa to the house her family had bought. It was a bit run down, but Rita's father was fixing it up. He was suspended on a little platform, working on the siding. Rita called up tp him.

"Oi! Dad! Is Mum back?" she yelled.

"Nope! She's still shopping, I think. She might have gone over to Geraldines' house to wrap things. You know mum, everything must be done before the time comes!" her father yelled back. "Oi, I could use some help with this, ya know, Rita. I'm not gonna ask Roddy because I know he's afraid of heights!"

Rita laughed and agreed. She and Roddy walked inside the house. Rita changed into a thicker coat and walked up the stairs to climb out the window and help her dad.

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THE NEXT DAY

"Wake up, Rita! Wake up Rita! Wake up, Rita! Wake up, R-" Rita's alarm clock screeched. Rita was sebmerged in her blankets and reached out a hand and smacked her clock. She curled up back under her blankets. A few minutes later it screeched again. She smacked it. About 20 minutes later something spoke gently in her ear, in the direction of the alarm clock. She instinctively reached out a hand and went to slam her hand on the snooze button, but instead slammed into someone's snout.

"Ow! What was that for?" Roddy whined. Rita shot up from under the covers. She looked at Roddy, who was rubbing the end of his snout with a grimace on his face. Rita covered her mouth with a hand as she apologised.

"Roddy, I'm sorry! I thought you were my alarm clock!" she said. As if on cue, the alarm clock went off.

"Wake up, Rita! Wake up, Rita! Wake up, Rita! Wake-" it squawked as Rita picked it up and turned it off. Roddy nodded with a smile.

"That explains the hit, but wow, I should've known you packed a punch before this. After all, you did punch me after I proved that the first ruby was fake." A smile spread across his face.

"I try to do someone a favor and-OW!"

Rita caught on. "Favor?! That jewel, was from Queen Elizebeth's crown! It fell down the drains from Buckingham Palace!" Rita threw pillows at him while they remembered the moment.

"Well, maybe the queen wears fake jewelry!"

"Keep still!"

"Can we just talk about this?"

"Real or not, that ruby was gonna CHANGE, MY LIFE!!!"

Rita and Roddy engaged in a pillow fight, both on their pajamas. Rita smacked Roddy and He smacked her back. They were having a load of fun. Rita was wearing a tight yellow shirt which read 'Dream' and lowrise blue pajama pants. She had slipped a pair of black slippers on and was now doubled over laughing. ROddy was wearing a pair of black pajama pants and a loose blue T-shirt which read 'I come with my own background music' on the front and 'I do all my own stunts' on the back, with a stick figure slipping and falling. He was also doubled over in laughter. Rita dropped to her knees as she laughed, and Roddy fell backwards. They both regulated their breathing after about ten minutes and got up, still laughing a bit. Rita's hair was messy, and Roddy's looked like a wheatfield before harvest-messy and unorganised. They both looked bad. It was all funny though. Rita got up and grabbed the hairbrush she had salvaged and began brushing her hair. She tossed Roddy another brush she had salvaged for him and he brushed the mess out. Rita's hair shone as she put it on the generic ponytail. She alked over to her closet and chose her Union Jack jeans and a red T-shirt. Roddy went to get dressed, and Rita gathered all her shower stuff and went into her bathroom.

Rita got out of the shower and dried her hair, brushed it, and put it back in the ponytail. She slipped into the jeans and fastened the Master Cable belt around her waist. She put the T-shirt on and grabbed her white sweater. Rita bounced downstairs and into the living room, were all the boys were watching Mythbusters. Rita loved the show. She sat down on the couch between Shockey and Shamus. Shockey gave his sister the regular good morning hug he always did. He was the one who was a suckup to his big sister. The others just respected her.

Rita decided to get off her butt and have breakfast. She opened the pantry door and grabbed a box of cereal. She poured a bit into a bowl and put the box back. Rita then went to the fridge and grabbed the milk and poured some in. She put it back and opened a drawer and got a spoon, then sat down and ate her breakfast. Roddy walked down in a pair of jeans with Union Jack peeking out ofthe pockets. He had allowed Rita to put a touch of Union Jack on all his clothes, and she put the patches in all the right places. Like on the pockets, along the zippers of jackets, and etc. He was wearing a black Aero shirt he had salvaged himself. He had the same breakfast Rita had, and after they both finished they slipped their boots, coats, gloves and hats on and walked out the door to finish shopping for the holiday.

* * *

There you have the official first chapter. ENJOY! The real plot won't come until Christmas, though.


	3. Casualty

Chapter 3

Rita ached as her mum reorganised the plates of Christmas candy and baked stuff for the billionth time. _Does she EVER get tired of this? _Rita wondered. She got caught in traffic, AGAIN, and up ahead she saw smoke and steam and assumed there was a wreck up ahead. A bad one judging from the smoke color and the size of the column.

"I certainly hope no one was hurt," Mrs. Malone said worriedly. Rita knew she wouldn't be able to weave through this traffic anytime soon, so walked away from the wheel and sat down, fatigue from the hours of caroling and delivering Christmas treats overtaking her. After she sat for a few minutes she decided to go below deck and crash on the sponge down there.

She opened the door and walked down, telling her mum to call her if traffic got moving again. After calling over her shoulder, Rita saw a few of her siblings sacked out on the floor, curled up on soft bits of cloth or human-sized washrags. Rita smiled and moved Liam so that he looked a bit more comfortable and turned to the sponge. Roddy was asleep on it. _Another reason to pull out the other sponge, _She thought.

She went to the closet and opened a cupboard, almost barfing when the smell drifted out. The sponge was dotted with bits of blue and green. Mold. _I told him to try and dry it out! That Roddy..._Rita felt frustration engulf her. She clenched her fists to vent out her anger. She put a hand on her forehead and sighed. _It's just his nature. It's just something he's not used to. Rita, just get over it. Get over it. _Rita turned back to the occupied sponge and looked at her first mate. He was kind of pressed up against the wall, slightly snoring. Rita decided to just lay down next to him as long as he didn't touch her. She stealthily went over and laid down on the edge of the eponge, inching bit by bit farther onto the sponge. Her boot bumped his knee, and he twitched.

_He's got good reflexes, _Rita minded. She pulled her boot away from him and put a hand under her head to prop it up a bit. her hand bumped Roddy in the chest and she winced. Not fast enough. He reflexed and his arms ended up around her waist. Rita was quite nervous and uncomfortable, but it wore off. Rita carefully rolled out from his arms and found a blanket and a cloth, where she set up a small bed and slept on the floor.

About an hour and a half later, Mrs. Malone saw traffic clearing up. Firefighters, emergency medical technicians, policemen, the whole bit were milling around the crash site.

"Rita! Traffic's moving-" Mrs. Malone stopped and her moth gaped when she saw the boat. It looked extremely familiar. Mr. Malone's boat! "Oh, no..." Mrs. Malone whispered. An EMT pushed an ambulance bed into the back of the ambulance, and Mrs. Malone saw the body's face before the EMTs zipped up the bodybag. "Oh, Lord God dearest, no!" she almost yelled, going to the cockpit and steering the boat to a parking space. She had Fergus drop the anchor and Mrs. Malone took off running for the ambulance.

"Wait! Please!" she yelled to an EMT. The woman turned around and walked to Mrs. Malone. "Who are you?"

"I think that's my husband!" Herriet Malone said breathlessly.

"So you want to ID the body?"

"Um, yes."

"Uh, Mrs...?"

"Malone."

"Alright. Come this way please," the EMT walked back to the ambulance and opened the doors, pulling out the bed and bodybag. "You ready?" the woman asked. Herriet nodded hesitantly. The EMT slowly unzipped the bag, only to reveal a face Herriet missed already. Mr. Malone.

"How badly was he hurt?" Harriet choked.

"Well, Ma'am, he didn't suffer. He broke three ribs, had major head trauma, blood loss...are you sure you want to hear this?"

"No, please, don't go into detail. I'm just glad he didn't go through any pain."

"Mum?" Rita called as she sprinted towards her mum. She slowed to a dead halt. "Is that Dad?" she asked, tears filling her eyes. She slowly walked toward the bodybag, turning away when she saw his face, swollen and black. "Oh no," she whispered as she hid her face in her mum's shoulder. "Dad..." she cried, her voice muffled by her mother's long coat. Roddy ran up and saw Rita's father, turning away at the sight. Rita went to him and held him tight, him doing the same for her. Rita cried, trying desperately to calm herself down. She couldn't. She couldn't even walk she was so troubled. Herriet authorised an autopsy on her husband and told Roddy to take Rita and the kids home. Roddy nodded and picked Rita up, hooking an arm under her knees. She leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing while tears still streamed down her face. Roddy got to the boat and took her below deck and sat her on the sponge, taking a soft blanket and tucking it around her shoulders. "We'll be home in a few minutes, Rita." Roddy assured her as he walked back up to deck. "Raise the anchor, Fergus." he asked the boy, and Fergus pulled up the anchor effortlessly.

"Roddy?" he asked.

"Yes, Fergus?"

"What was wrong with Rita?"

Roddy cringed. Should he tell him or let Herriet tell him? "Well, your mum will tell you and your siblings when she gets home."


	4. Traumatized

BREAK AWAY Chapter 4--Trauma

_Have I provided enough suspense and/or confusion for you guys? I hope so. Just to clear things up…._

_RITA'S DAD IS DEAD! OKAY?! –composes herself- okay. On with Chapter four…_

Rita sat below deck of the Jammy Dodger. It felt so weird knowing that it was moving, yet she wasn't driving it.

It couldn't be true. It had to be all a bad dream. It HAD to be! Her dad wasn't dead. He was in perfect shape at home.

_But it is true. All too true…_Rita told herself as she sat on the corner of the sponge closest to the wall. She felt like crying herself to sleep, but two things prevented her from doing so. One, her siblings would hear her crying and would freak out because she never cries, two, whenever she closed her eyes she saw her father's swollen face. It was a horrible episode just closing her eyes.

'Christmas shouldn't be like this,' Rita thought. 'Christmas is a time of cheer and family bonding, not emotional turmoil. Sure, the suicide rates go off the charts around Christmas, but still! The Malone family is a close knit one. This is not happening!'

Rita gave in. The emotional conflict within her was too much. She buried her face in the sponge and sobbed. No matter how hard she tried to console herself, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing or her shoulders from heaving. She felt the boat side up to a dock and assumed they were home. She still didn't stop crying. She couldn't help it. She heard the hatch open and a shaft of light shone on her.

Roddy's voice, rich and smooth, overwhelmed her senses. "Wake up Shockey. Liam, We're home," he said, addressing each one with a gentle tone. Rita heard his footsteps nearing her and his voice was close now.

"We're home, Ri. Can you walk now?" he asked her gently and sympathetically. Rita sat up, hanging her head, hoping he wouldn't see the tearstains running down her face. She replied in a weak voice, "I think so."

"Are you okay?" Roddy asked, becoming concerned. He lifted Rita's chin to look her in the eyes. Her eyes shimmered with tears and she had dark sags under her eyes. She looked absolutely broken-hearted.

"Oh, Rita! It's alright…" Roddy sympathized, pulling her into an embrace. Rita leaned into his shoulder and cried. Not as hard as before, however. She could cry harder than anyone else she knew. If she cried as hard as she could, she could probably drench Roddy's shirt and then some.

Rita had never really had a shoulder to cry on. It felt good to be comforted. She eventually calmed down, wiping her tears on her shirt sleeve.

"Alright. I'm okay. I'll be fine…" Rita decided, making her way up to the deck. She felt a bit wobbly as she walked onto the cement. She felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on. Her eyes watered and her head spun. It must have been from crying so hard.

Roddy watched Rita walk toward her house. Was she really alright? It didn't seem so. Trauma was a horrible thing. He of all people should know. His life changed in a matter of minutes, maybe seconds. Being flushed, meeting someone as brave and amazing as Rita, fighting the toad, AND falling in love with her was almost too much for his rat senses. But what he thought was a total nightmare turned into something he never saw coming. He couldn't believe he had wanted to go home for about a day. The Kensington apartment might have been nice and all, with infinite food and luxuries such as a bed and everything, but nothing could compare to what it was like in the sewer.

Roddy followed Rita to the Malone house. As he walked inside he removed his coat and hung it on a peg in the foyer. Rita had done the same but it had fallen. Roddy picked it up and hung it back on the peg. He heard the bathroom door open and the medicine cabinet door snap.

"Dangit!" He heard Rita hiss. He walked to the door and saw Rita prying the medicine cabinet door open.

"What do you need, Ri?" Roddy asked, making Rita jump.

"Oh, god, Roddy…migraine prevention pills. At least two. It's starting to make me dizzy already. And you scaring me didn't help, either."

Roddy helped Rita pry the cabinet open, then went up to his room. It wasn't much, but it was something. He opened his top drawer, where he kept his hairbrush, watch, extra alarm clock, his jacket, etc. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small box. He opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. It had a total of seven diamonds embedded into the sterling silver band, which represented true love. He was going to ask Rita to dinner that night, but with her dad dying, it went off the calendar. Roddy had it all planned out. He would take her to her favorite restaurant, 'Seven Stars', where he would get a table out on the balcony. It was supposed to be a bit breezy, so when it blew a bit and she got the chills, he would remove his dinner jacket and drape it over her shoulders.

After dinner they would walk the gardens, where they would stop at the bridge crossing the brook. There they would stand at the railing. Then Roddy would turn to Rita and tell her that he had come to love her dearly and that he could see himself spending the rest of his life with her. If Rita cooperated, she would get confused and ask him what he meant. Then Roddy would kneel down and present the ring. With success, her hands would fly to her mouth. Hopefully she would say yes and let him put the ring on her finger. Then she would bury her face in his chest(hopefully not getting any makeup on his white shirt)and whisper, "I never thought this would happen to me!" Then she would pull away and their lips would meet…

Roddy shook his head. He couldn't let his daydreams get the best of him.

A knock on the door sent him flying. He almost dropped the box, but got a grip on it and hid it in his jacket pocket again and slammed the dresser drawer shut.

"Roddy?" Can I talk to you a second?" Rita called through the door. Roddy walked to the door and opened it. Rita stood in the doorway. "Can I come in?"

Roddy stepped aside to let her in. The two looked each other in the eyes, Rita's watering up. She fell into his arms and kissed him. Something odd clicked in both of them, and they progressed toward the bed, both falling over onto it. Rita unbuttoned Roddy's shirt and then Rita's shirt was on the floor…..

I know, odd ending for chapter 4. But I kinda based it on Lost, where it showed a flashback on Boone and Shannon's past….Shannon walks in, tells Boone that she knows he's always loved her, then they kiss and fall onto Boone's bed…yeah. Hope this satisfies your longing for another chapter!


	5. Unprotected

Here's Chapter 5

Here's Chapter 5! I know I left you all hanging on a thread with the last chapter, but I had to! I said SLASH, after all!

Rita woke up the next day in a room that wasn't hers. There was someone next to her whom she loved dearly. Roddy. The two had fallen into bed with each other the night before and now Rita was confused. She sat up, hugging the blanket to her chest. She shivered. Nothing covered her back. Roddy woke up with the blanket being jerked from under his arm.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

Rita lay back down and faced him. She kissed him tenderly. "After we settled down at about midnight, I did." Rita smirked seductively. She kissed him again. "Did we ever settle down?"

Roddy became serious. "You know your mom's gonna kick me out if she finds out about this. I mean, I don't think you're what they consider a 'virgin' anymore."

Rita's face fell. "I'm not?" she flopped over and stared at the ceiling. "I'm not," she whispered guiltily.

"But I don't think your parents-- I mean, mum is gonna find out. I mean, she'd have to dig pretty dang deep to find out."

Rita agreed. "I guess you're right." Suddenly her eyes became wide. "Roddy?"

"Yeah?

"We weren't on protection."

Roddy nodded. "We weren't on protection." He was totally oblivious to what she was implying. Suddenly he understood. "Oh. We weren't on protection!"

Both shuddered with horror. Rita would have to sneak to the drugstore and buy a package oof 'morning-after' pills. Otherwise she might find herself pregnant. That was the LAST thing she needed.

Roddy got up and got dressed.

Roddy got up and got dressed. "Rita, I am SO sorry! I don't know what got into us, but I promise you, it won't happen again, I swear to you!"

Rita began dressing, her back to Roddy. "I am too, Rodders! I knew something like this would happen to me. It happens to every couple I've met!" They finished dressing at exactly the same moment and ran to the end of the bed and embraced each other. "It won't happen ever again," they promised one another.

"Now come on, Rita. You need to go to the grugstore within the next 72 hours for the pill to work. Now go!" Roddy urged Rita. Rita nodded and snuck into the hallway and out the front door.

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EEEEE! What happens? I was thoughtfulo enough to provide a quick answer to chapter 4, so be grateful!! -provides plate of cookies-


	6. Relief

Here's Chapter 5

YO!! Am I getting you with suspense yet if I haven't already? I found a window to type so I thought I'd bring you out of the dark with the two previous chapters. Chapter 6 should be interesting.

Rita had been successful in making it to the Dodger undetected. As she drove to the medical plaza about half a human mile away (which is about 2 1/2 from the rat's perspective), she thought about what Roddy had said. His words buzzed around in her head like a swarm of angry bees.

'Your mum's gonna kick me out if she finds out about this.'

Rita couldn't stand the thought alone of Roddy not being in her life. Her previous years had been such a waste. But now her future years might be a waste, now that she was so full of guilt.

"I can't keep this secret from Mum forever," she mumbled. Her mum would kill her if she found her eldest daughter out.

Rita thought back to the night before and grimaced. Why had that happened? Why her? Why then? Questions clouded everything.

Rita managed to make it to the drugstore. She walked in, the smell of coffee, candy, and musty old comic books pelting her as she walked forward. She walked to the medical aisles and looked for the pills. She saw what they should have been using in boxes on the other side of the aisle. She felt so guilty. She scanned the shelves for the pill. She found it and stood in awe at the price. For a small bottle it was like, 10 dollars and then some. Rita hesitated, then thought about what would happen if she didn't buy them. Rita stopped hesitating and grabbed them, then walked to the counter. She still didn't feel secure buying them.

Rita hid them in her coat pocket until she got home. It didn't have a zipper, so she was absolutely terrified that they were going to fall out while she was going upstairs.

Rita parked and tied the Dodger to the dock, quivering uncontrollably. She continued to quiver all the way across the Little Soho plaza. She walked in and darted upstairs. She jumped when Herriet called her.

"Rita? Where have you been?"

"Last minute shopping, Mum!" Rita replied hastily, still continuing up the stairs.

"Wait a second, Marita Kaylynn! Get back here!"

"Just a second! I'm gonna go to the bathroom!"

"Make it quick!"

"Okay!"

Rita rushed into her room and into her bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Her heart almost pounded through her chest, it was beating so hard. Rita read the bottle and saw that it said to take only one. She took two.

She gulped them down without water and gagged. 'Okay. Take these with water next time. WAIT. There won't be a 'next time.''

Relief flooded her senses. No more worry. She walked out of the bathroom and tossed the pills into her room, then decided to hide them in her drawer.

"Okay. Coming, Mum!" she called.

"Rita, what was the matter? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I was about to throw up, was all." She hoped her mum couldn't see it in her face the whopper she was telling.

"Did you eat something bad?"

'AAAAAAAUGH! ENOUGH WITH THE FREAKING 20 QUESTIONS, MUM!!' Rita mentally screamed. "I guess. Well, last night I had a headache from crying over Dad."

The thought of Dad caused her to break down--again.

'Since when did my tear ducts become active?!' Rita seethed. 'Why can't I be like other tomboys and never cry?!'

"Oh, Rita! Think of it this way. Dad's in better hands now."

'MUM. BACK. AWAY.' Rita thought.

"He's probably looking down on our lives, watching everything play out, good or bad…and smiling. No pain."

Rita felt like someone had shot her.

'…_looking down on our lives, watching everything play out, good or bad…'_

Oh god. Then if that was true, he knew what she had done. If Father Christmas was real, she wouldn't be getting a single, solitary thing for Christmas.


	7. The unwanted Gift Given

Chapter 7 : The Unwanted Gift Given

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. The alarm clock wouldn't shut up!

So...once again Rita slammed a fist onto the snooze bar.

Five minutes later, she repeated as was neccesary.

And again.

And again.

And again, for hours. Until Roddy was sent by Rita's mother to wake her.

"Rita?" he whispered, remembering to keep his nose a safe distance away from her memorably dangerous hands. "C'mon, wake up. It's almost one."

Rita sat up, yawned, and rubbed her eyes. After she gained actual consciousness, her eyes widened. "Please say it hasn't happened again."

Roddy shook his head. "No, it didn't. You're in your own bed, as I was in my own."

Rita rested her head in her hands. "Thank god." She sighed, obviously relieved.

Suddenly her head jerked back up. "Did you say it's almost one?" she asked, throwing back the sheets and heading for her closet.

"Yeah. Your mum wanted to go and decide how your father's funeral is going to be done. Flowers, casket, services, pallbearers, et cetera."

Rita grabbed her green shirt and a pair of blue jeans and went into her bathroom to change. "That's the last thing I want to do, the fact being that it's almost Christmas Day."

"I know, I know, and it's the last thing I think you need to do, the fact being that you've been through so much in the last 72 hours."

"Like what?"

"The beginning of your guilt trip, your father's death, your mother's...well, you know, being too occupied to talk to you anymore, that sort of stuff."

"Uh, guilt trip?"

Roddy hung his head in embarrassment. "Yeah. You know, a few nights ago? That thing, two nights ago? Yeah?"

Rita felt her chest shrinking with the guilt emitting from the thought of it. "Yeah. I remember. All too well, I'm afraid."

Roddy nodded. Rita came out fully dressed and sat down to put her boots on. "What if mum finds out?"

"there's no telling. We can't fight the consequences if she discovers it. We're probably not getting anything but a lump of coal from Father Christmas this year. If that at all."

A single tear fell from Rita's eye and onto her jeans.

"Oh, come on, Rita," Roddy said, standing up and sitting on the bed next to her. "There also is a chance that our secret will stay hidden. Everyone could die without knowing.

_"But Dad knows about it," _She thought. _"I can't live with what I know he's ashamed of me for."_

Christmas came and went as it does every year, but what happened A few weeks afterward wasn't a gift Rita wanted to recieve.

Dun dun dun Dun...


End file.
